Nvidia RTX 4090 vs RTX 3090: How do the spec and expected performance compare for the highest end?

Nvidia recently unveiled RTX 4090 GPU in the GTC Sept 2022 Keynote event. The RTX 4090 is the top-of-the-line offering from Nvidia, providing players up to four times the performance compared to the current RTX 3000 series cards.

These new GPUs will be based on the Ada Lovelace architecture that provides superior performance. The GPU will hit shelves on October 12, starting at $1599 in the US.

The RTX 3090 was launched on September 24, 2020. It is the best gaming-grade GPU available in the market. Since its launch, it has established dominance as one of the best high-end GPUs.

This line of GPUs was based on the Ampere architecture, Nvidia's second-gen RTX architecture. The RTX 3090 was initially launched in the US at a starting price of $1499.

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How does Nvidia's last-gen flagship GPU compare against the RTX 4090?

The RTX 4090 is a powerful GPU when compared to the RTX 3090. The performance offerings of 4090 is setting a market trend. However, that doesn't mean users should underestimate the performance capabilities of the RTX 3090.

Both GPUs can facilitate 4K gaming easily, but with the latest DLSS 3 support and the RTX 4000, the performance gains can be immense.

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RTX 4090 vs RTX 3090 spec comparison

Here's how both GPUs compare against each other on paper:

	RTX 3090	RTX 4090
Starting Price	$1499	$1599
Nvidia CUDA Cores	10496	16384
Boost Clock (Ghz)	1.7	2.52
Standard Memory Config	24GB GDDR6X	24GB GDDR6X
Memory Interface Width	384-bit	384-bit
Ray Tracing Cores	2nd Generation	3rd Generation
Tensor Cores	3rd Generation	4th Generation
Nvidia Architecture	Ampere	Ada Lovelace
Nvidia DLSS	2	3
Nvidia Encoder	7th Generation	2x 8th Generation
Maximum GPU temperature (in C)	93	90
Graphics Card power (in W)	350	450
Requires System power (in W)	750	850

The latest flagship has almost 45% more CUDA cores compared to the RTX 3090. The Boost clock has doubled on the newer GPU. However, this performance increment comes at a price of 100 watts of more power consumption.

Apart from this, the new GPU's Ray Tracing cores provide up to 2x the performance over the last gen. Its new Tensor Cores enable 2x AI and Deep learning capabilities.

The enhanced Nvidia encoder will enable streamers to stream their games at higher quality with less impact on the games. The new encoder ensures that viewers enjoy higher quality video output.

Moreover, this enhanced encoder can be used for Nvidia's other tools, such as Nvidia Broadcast, which contains a host of functionalities and features such as audio filtering, background removal, and more.

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RTX 4090 vs RTX 3090 performance comparison

RTX 4090 vs RTX 3090 Ti performance comparison (Image via Nvidia)

Nvidia shared the performance improvements of the RTX 4090 over the last gen GPUs. In the report, Microsoft Flight Simulator delivered twice the performance when compared to its performance with the RTX 3090 Ti.

Similarly, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide pushed past more than twice its capabilities when compared to the last-gen flagship. However, Cyberpunk 2077 truly showcases the new GPU's performance. The game delivered at peak potential, thanks to DLSS 3.

This time around, the focus was more on DLSS upgrades, as DLSS 3 enables 4K gaming like never before, with Ray Tracing enabled.

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Conclusion

Although the RTX 4090 offers higher performance, it isn't entirely worth upgrading if users already own an RTX 3090. Unless DLSS 3 is of utmost priority, the updrage might not be worth it. Only then does the 4090 make sense. Keep in mind, users will likely also have to upgrade their Power Supply Unit to ensure their new card receives all the necessary power to run.

If users upgrade from the RTX 2000 series GPUs, then an upgrade is in order. Performance gains would be mind-blowing over their current GPUs. The new flagship costs only $100 more than the RTX 3090, thus making it a great option to upgrade to from RTX 2000 series or prior cards.